


It's a tongue-in-the-cheek kind of thing

by writerwithoutcause



Category: Naruto
Genre: Dead Jiraiya, Future Fic, Gen, Hokage Uzumaki Naruto, bittersweet but mostly sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-31
Updated: 2014-08-31
Packaged: 2018-02-15 13:39:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2231091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writerwithoutcause/pseuds/writerwithoutcause
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The seventh Hokage has the whole Icha Icha Paradise series in his office. On a book shelf. In plain sight. Surprisingly enough, he does not happen to be a pervert. Not quite, anyway.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's a tongue-in-the-cheek kind of thing

The seventh Hokage has the whole Icha Icha Paradise series in his office. On a book shelf. In plain sight. Surprisingly enough, he does not happen to be a pervert. Not quite, anyway.

The many orange books clearly visible from the doorway have brought the blond man a few humor-less enemies and some... interesting friends, even before said potential allies had a chance to actually talk to him. But whenever confronted about it, the shinobi simply slipped a smile on his face - a big, fake, frustrating smile - and said they were a present from someone. And those who knew anything about anything, especially his stubbornness, did not ask about the novels again. Those who knew anything about how Naruto ended up being Hokage knew not to ask in the first place.

The truth is that only two or three of said books had actually been a present - the others had either been bought or... inherited by the blue eyed nin, and they are more of a reminder than anything else. A reminder that while sometimes it's better to be strong than powerful, it doesn't hurt if you do have power; that sometimes a shinobi's gotta do what a shinobi's gotta do; that everyone dies.

And so, more than a decade after the author's death, the Seventh opens one orange book, tattered and battered and almost disintegrating in his hands, and reads the smudged dedication on the front page, remembers his late sensei grabbing a freshly printed book from a pile of many and hastily writing down a couple of rushed sentences before giving him the book and a friendly pat on the shoulder. The Hokage gets as far as "To Naruto," before pressure starts to build behind his eyelids, maybe a migraine, maybe something else, and he manages to stay mostly composed until the last words, and then he's closing his eyes - tightly - and clenching his jaw and bowing his head. A hand rises to pinch the bridge of his nose, and Naruto can't help but snort.

He shakes his head, closes the cursed book and throws it in his desk's drawer, an almost amused smile starting to take over his face. He hesitates in the doorway, nearly turns around, but in the end simply shakes his head again and leaves, the door slamming behind him.

 

\------

 

"To Naruto, my terribly ungrateful student, in the hopes that one day you'll finally be able to appreciate what this book is about. Love, Jiraiya"

**Author's Note:**

> This ended up being a somewhat melodramatic story of how Naruto remembers Jiraiya, now that he's Hokage. Or something. Also, the last part can basically be summed up as Jiraiya telling Naruto he hopes he'll get laid when he's older, or find love, whichever floats your boat. I came up with that explanation after I finished writing and editing the fic, don't look at me for answers.


End file.
